Julian Konstantinov (also Yuliyan Konstantinov) (born 1966) is a Bulgarian opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic bass particularly known for his interpretations of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

, Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...

, and the bel canto

Bel canto

Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...

 roles of Rossini and Donizetti. More recently he has become associated with the title role in Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...

's Boris Godunov

Boris Godunov (opera)

Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...

, a role he has sung in numerous opera houses.

Career

Konstantinov studied opera under Assen Selimski at the Bulgarian Music Academy in Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 from 1987-1993. He made his professional opera debut while still a student at the Sofia National Opera

National Opera and Ballet

The National Opera and Ballet is a national cultural institution in Bulgaria that covers opera and ballet. It is based in an imposing building in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria....

 in a minor role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...

. He also appeared in a production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress

The Rake's Progress

The Rake's Progress is an opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on May 2, 1947, in a Chicago...

while still a student. In 1993 he garnered wide attention when he won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....

 and he was soon cast is several major roles in opera houses throughout Europe. In 1995 he made his debuts with Wexford Festival Opera

Wexford Festival Opera

The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...

 and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. This was soon followed by his debut at La Scala

La Scala

La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

, making him the youngest bass ever to sing at the prestigious opera house. His other international appearances have taken him to Germany, France, Spain, Holland, Brazil, Great Britain and the United States. In 1998 he recorded the role of Oroe in Rossini's Semiramide

Semiramide

Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...

with Edita Gruberova

Edita Gruberová

Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...

 in the title role. In 1999 he sang the role of Moser in Verdi's I masnadieri

I masnadieri

I masnadieri is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on Die Räuber by Friedrich von Schiller....

with the Opera Orchestra of New York

Opera Orchestra of New York

The Opera Orchestra of New York specializes in the performance of opera in concert form. It is particularly known for its work in presenting rarely performed repertory...

. In 2001, he joined Angela Gheorghiu

Angela Gheorghiu

Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States...

, Daniela Barcellona, Roberto Alagna

Roberto Alagna

Roberto Alagna is a French-Italian tenor. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Early years:Alagna was born outside of the city of Paris in 1963 to a family of Sicilian immigrants . As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian cabarets for tips...

, and the Berlin Philharmonic in a production of Verdi's Requiem under the baton of Claudio Abbado

Claudio Abbado

Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...

. In 2002, he sang the title role in Boris Godunov

Boris Godunov (opera)

Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...

with Opéra Bastille

Opéra Bastille

L'Opéra Bastille ' is a modern opera house in Paris, France. It is the home base of the Opéra national de Paris and was designed to replace the Palais Garnier, which is nowadays mainly used for ballet performances....

 and the role of Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra

Simon Boccanegra

Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....

with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...

. In 2003 he sang the role of Boris again at the Grand Théâtre de Genève

Grand Théâtre de Genève

Grand Théâtre de Genève is an opera house in Geneva, Switzerland.As with many other opera houses, the Grand Théâtre de Genève is both a venue and an institution. The venue is a majestic building, towering over Place Neuve, officially opened in 1876, partly destroyed by fire in 1951 and reopened in...

 and the role of Padre Guardiano in Verdi's La forza del destino

La forza del destino

La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...

at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 in New York City. That same year his recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...

's Sea Symphony with Robert Spano

Robert Spano

Robert Spano is an American conductor and pianist. Since 2001 he has been Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra , and he served as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1996 to 2004...

, Christine Goerke

Christine Goerke

Christine Goerke is a Grammy Award winning American dramatic soprano who has performed with many of the world's best opera companies, orchestras, and musical ensembles.-Early life and education:...

, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...

 won a Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

. In 2004 he made his Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 debut as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto

Rigoletto

Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...

, a role he later recorded that year at the Liceu

Liceu

The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...

. In 2005 he performed the role of Roger in Verdi's Jérusalem

Jérusalem

Jérusalem is a grand opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, set to a French libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz which was partly translated and adapted from Verdi's original 1843 Italian opera, I Lombardi alla prima crociata...

with conductor Paolo Olmi conducts the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir

Netherlands Radio Symphony

The Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra was a Dutch radio orchestra. It was founded in 1985 after a merger of the Promenade Orchestra and the Radio Orchestra ....

.

Konstantinov has spent much of his career singing roles with the Sofia National Opera where he has appeared as Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust

Faust (opera)

Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...

, Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....

, Count Walter in Verdi's Luisa Miller

Luisa Miller

Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...

, Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto

Rigoletto

Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...

, Fiesco in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra

Simon Boccanegra

Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....

, Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, both Don Pedro and the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...

, and as Timur in Puccini's Turandot

Turandot

Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...

among other roles.

Konstantinov's younger brother, Plamen Konstantinov

Plamen Konstantinov

Plamen Georgiev Konstantinov is a former Bulgarian volleyball player and captain of the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team,coach.Konstantinov was born in Sofia; both his parents, Georgi and Eva née Doycheva, are former volleyball internationals and his older brother Julian Konstantinov is an...

, is a volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

 player and captain

Captain (sports)

In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...

 of the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

The Bulgaria men's national volleyball team, controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, is one of the leading volleyball teams in Europe and the world....

 currently playing for Iraklis VC

Iraklis VC

Iraklis Thessaloniki Volleyball Club is a volleyball team based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. It plays in A1 Greek Volleyball League and in CEV Champions League. Founded in the 1920s, it evolved in one of the most successful departments of G.S...

 in the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 A1 Volleyball League.

Choral and symphonic

Year	Title	Genre	Collaborators	Label
2002	Verdi: Requiem Requiem (Verdi) The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...	classical	Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,... Berlin Philharmonic Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States...  (soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... ) Roberto Alagna Roberto Alagna Roberto Alagna is a French-Italian tenor. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Early years:Alagna was born outside of the city of Paris in 1963 to a family of Sicilian immigrants . As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian cabarets for tips...  (tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... ) Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... )	EMI Classics EMI Classics EMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
2003	Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...  winner)	classical	Robert Spano (Conductor) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Christine Goerke Christine Goerke Christine Goerke is a Grammy Award winning American dramatic soprano who has performed with many of the world's best opera companies, orchestras, and musical ensembles.-Early life and education:...  (soprano) Brett Polegato Brett Polegato Brett Polegato is an operatic baritone. In 1999 he made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Peter Niles in Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra followed by his La Scala debut in 2000 as Ned Keene in Britten's Peter Grimes...  (tenor)	Telarc

Opera recordings

Year	Title	Role	Cast	Label
1998	Rossini: Semiramide Semiramide Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...	Oroe	Marcello Panni (conductor) Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra of the Austrian national broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk . Founded in 1969 with the name of the ORF-Symphonieorchester , it is the only radio orchestra in the country... Edita Gruberova Edita Gruberová Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...  (Semiramide), Bernadette Manca di Nissa Bernadette Manca di Nissa Bernadette Manca di Nissa is an Italian operatic contralto who has sung leading roles in the principal opera houses of Italy as well as internationally...  (Arsace), Hélène Le Corre (Azema), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer.-Biography:A Native of Pescara, Abruzzo, D'Arcangelo began his studies in 1985 at the conservatory of Luisa D'Annunzio in Pescara, under Maria Vittoria Romano, honing his skills under Paride Venturi in Bologna.From 1989 to 1991 he...  (Assur), Juan Diego Flórez Juan Diego Flórez Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....  (Idreno), José Guadalupe Reyes (Mitrane), Andreas Jankowitsch (Nino's ghost)	Nightingale Records
2002	Verdi: Simon Boccanegra Simon Boccanegra Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....	Jacopo Fiesco	Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...  (conductor) Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...  orchestra and chorus Carlo Guelfi (Simon Boccanegra), Karita Mattila Karita Mattila Karita Marjatta Mattila is a leading opera soprano. She was born in Somero, Finland.Mattila appears regularly in the major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco...  (Maria Boccanegra), Vincenzo La Scola Vincenzo La Scola Vincenzo La Scola was an Italian tenor who had a successful international opera career and theatrical career for more than 25 years. He was particularly admired for his portrayals in operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini...  (Gabriele Adorno), Lucio Gallo (Paolo Albiani), Andrea Concetti (Pietro)	Universal Music Group Universal Music Group Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations... Also available on TDK DVD Video
2004	Verdi: Rigoletto Rigoletto Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...	Sparafucile	Jesús López-Cobos Jesús López-Cobos Jesús López-Cobos is a Spanish conductor.López-Cobos was born in Toro, Zamora, Castile-León, Spain. He studied at Complutense University of Madrid and graduated with a degree in philosophy...  (conductor) Liceu orchestra and chorus Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain... Inva Mula Inva Mula Inva Mula is an Albanian opera soprano and actress. She began her soprano career at a very early age. Her father and mother were also opera singers. -Life and Career:...  (Violetta), Marcelo Álvarez Marcelo Álvarez Marcelo Raúl Álvarez, , is an Argentine lyric tenor who achieved international success starting in the mid-1990s....  (Alfredo), Carlos Álvarez Carlos Álvarez (baritone) Carlos Álvarez is a Spanish baritone who has had a major international opera career since the early 1990s. His recording of the title role in Isaac Albéniz's Merlin with Plácido Domingo as King Arthur won a Latin Grammy Award in 2001, and his recording of the role of Ford in Giuseppe Verdi's... (Giorgio)	TDK DVD Video